The Goblin King's Servant
by AnnaJW
Summary: What if Sarah didn't make it in time to save Toby? What if instead, she offered herself to the Goblin King instead? This is that story about Sarah's journey through her servant-hood and her relationship with the Goblin King.
1. Sarah's Sacrifice

As Sarah rushed into the castle with her friends behind her, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered she had fought her way to the castle, beyond the goblin city. To take back the child that _he_ had stolen. And yet, her heart beat with fear as she viewed the clock that was in the messy throne room. She only had a few minutes left. Hurrying into the Escher Room she came face to face with him.

Jareth, he was holding Toby in his arms and _smiling _at her. Sarah couldn't for the life of her figure out why he was smiling so fondly at her without any malice on his face. That was, until she heard the clock start chiming. She was too late, she had lost.

Numbness took over her body. Toby was gurgling happily at her moving his hands in her direction. Not knowing the power of the man who was holding him.

"Hello Sarah," Jareth said coolly, voice filled with pride. Sarah's eyes, which had been on Toby, snapped to him. She watched as Jareth shifted and made to hand Toby over to her, and she numbly moved foreword to take him.

Once in her arms Toby yawned, and Sarah could feel his warmth spread through her surprisingly cold body.

"What," She paused, confused "Why are you...?"

"You have lost Sarah, but I feel that there is no reason you shouldn't give a proper good bye to him." He smirked at her then, leaning against a wall. She looked at Toby, tears starting to form in her eyes. He was beginning to fall asleep, looking peaceful and innocent in her arms.

It was her fault he was here. It was her own selfish wish that brought him to the Labyrinth and her failure to solve it in time to correct her mistake. If only there was something she could do, something to replace her wish...

That was it. Raising her head with new fervor she looked at Jareth, who hadn't moved from the wall and was staring at her with mismatched eyes.

"Take me instead."

The Goblin King continued gazing at her, eyes seemingly probing into her. Minutes passed. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" She asked, the silence was unsettling.

"It is true," he started slowly, never taking his eyes off her, "That runners themselves could be left behind instead of the wished away. Or that humans could become a Fae's servant." He paused then for a moment before continuing on. "I myself, have never done it. But I suppose there's always a first time for everything." He seemed to smirk to himself at this very human saying. "Very well, I accept. You will take the baby's place in the Underground. But as a servant instead."

Sarah found herself nodding as she hugged Toby close and breathed in his smell. This child had done nothing to her and she found a deep love for him developing within her. At first it had started as a sense of duty, she had wished him away, she needed to get him back. Now however, she was willing to give up everything so that he could be returned home. Even if that meant without her.

* * *

B-b-b-oom! A very short chapter but I'm rather happy with it. I've had this idea dentro de mí _Within me _for a while now. c: I'm hoping that with the help of my friends (and reviewers) I can finish it!


	2. The Runner's Room

Sarah found herself following a small goblin past rooms and hallways. It was going on and on about different rooms in the castle, what they were called or what hallways they were in. But she was hardly paying any attention, mostly she was still in shock at what had happened. How Jareth had been so willing to let her take Toby's place. Well, without being turned into a goblin which she was thankful for. She was already given her servant's clothes, which she thought with all the fairy tales she read, would have been filthy ratty things. Instead it was a simple, light brown dress that went all the way to the floor, with long sleeves and a sloping neckline. Her room was also simple with a closet, dresser, small table with a chair and her bed. But it was much better than anything she'd been expecting and she took them with gratitude.

This goblin in front of her was small, only up to her knees. Like all the rest he was filthy and he had a high pitched voice that hurt Sarah's ears a bit.

"And tisss one is named 'The Runner's Room' 'en tisss one is-"

"Wait what did you say this room was called?" Sarah asked, stopping in front of the door the goblin just mentioned. It was just a plain wooden door with nothing special about it. Yet Sarah wondered, why was it called The Runners Room? Wasn't that what Jareth called the other people who had run the Labyrinth? The goblin stopped as well with a huff. He seemed annoyed that she had interrupted him, but answered her question anyway,

"It's afull of thingsss the Runnen's left behind,"

"Can we go in?" -The goblin, Sarah seemed to remember his name being something like Tagas; huffed again but nonetheless opened the door for her.

Walking inside it was a bit anticlimactic. The room itself was nothing more than a small room with rock shelves seeming as though carved into the wall. The only lighting was a window directly across from the door. Although walking in was a disappointment, when Sarah looked closer she discovered the shelves held random items. There was an earring shaped like a rose, a belt buckle, someone's shoelace. As Sarah wandered around the room she saw many different items. Tagas watched from the doorway, arms crossed but waiting for her.

"Why are these items here?" Sarah asked as she picked up a small teddy bear from one of the shelves.

"They're what the Runnen's gave to creatures in thisss here Labyrinth." Just as Sarah was putting the bear back, she noticed something.

"My ring!" She said with surprise. "And my bracelet!" Tabas nodded.

"They end up here, if 'ey're given to someone who don't want them no more."

"But Hoggle..." Hoggle had wanted this bracelet hadn't he?

"Well come on 'en!" Tabas said, wanting to hurry her on. Sarah took another look at her bracelet before quickly putting it on her wrist. She was sure Hoggle had wanted it, and would give it back to him when she saw him again. As she was walking out, she noticed one more thing.

"An iPod!" She exclaimed loudly, picking up the green colored iPod. It was covered in dust, with a few scratches around it but it was a wonderful thing to find here.

"An I pad? Wass that?" Tabas asked standing on his tiptoes to get a better look at it. Sarah leaned down to let him get a see it.

"It's a human device that plays music," Sarah explained to him. Tabas cocked his head.

"Where's the band?"

Sarah had to giggle.

"It's inside!" She didn't want to try to explain the idea of chips or information to a goblin.

"It must be tinyyyy," Tabas said touching the side of it. Sarah giggled again and nodded.

"Wells then!" Tabas said turning back around to the door already losing interest in the I pad. "The tour's not done yet!" Sarah sighed but slipped the iPod into her dress pocket to look at later.  
-

Woot another one! It's just to "set the stage" so to speak c: . But I know the movie was made in the 80s so it's wtf iPod? But just bear with me, I was thinking that it never goes into what year the movie was set in (besides the fashion, hehe) so it really doesn't matter which "year" I make this story out to be. Thus, she knows what an iPod is.


	3. Eggs are Food?

The days flew by like a blur for Sarah. Her images of being labored to the point of near death was quickly put to rest. Instead her jobs included cleaning, a lot of cleaning. Sweeping and dusting some of the rooms within the castle. Doing dishes, and cooking. Sarah smiled to herself at that memory. At the moment she was simply sweeping the throne room she'd run past on her way to meet the Goblin King. The room itself looked much better than the first time she'd seen it. There was no more chickens running around, which improved the overall look of the castle.

Really it had started when Sarah, who was walking around the gardens behind the castle a couple days ago, stumbled upon a game the goblins were playing. They had all gathered as many chicken eggs as they could and were throwing them at each other. Sarah moved out of the way to avoid being hit in the face with one egg. It splattered on the ground behind her. She frowned at the egg oozing onto the rock. What a waste.

"Hey!" She called out, before realizing what she was doing. All the goblins stopped and stared at her. Many of them with eggs posed ready to throw.

"You know you're wasting food," Sarah said, crossing her arms and frowning at them. They spared a glance at each other. The thought was easy to see, 'Food?'

"Um, wat food?" Said one goblin a tad taller than the rest with a huge belly. Which didn't surprise Sarah, it had to be the one who ate the most to realize the importance of not wasting food.

"Those eggs your throwing," Now they looked at the eggs in their hands, confused.

"Eggs ain't food!" One voice yelled out. The other goblins started to nod in agreement.

Sarah sighed and unfolded her arms. She thought with so many chickens around they would have used the eggs to eat, but apparently not.

"Come on then, bring your eggs and I'll show you," She turned around and didn't bother to see if they were following her. Small footsteps only a few at first before the whole gang was following her back into the castle and down into the kitchen.

The kitchen was always messy and busy. There was always dwarfs or other creatures that Sarah hadn't been introduced that worked here with the dishes or cooking. Goblins would break things or eat the food.

Grabbing two pans and something to stir with, she went to one of the stoves. Since there was always something going on, the kitchen had several places to cook at. Sarah picked the one furthest away from the other workers so the goblins wouldn't get in the way.

"Now I need some water in this pan," She said picking up a pot. "Who wants to do it?" Several raised their arms in the air. Sarah gave the pot to the one who looked less likely to spill it.

"Okay, now I need some eggs for this one." She turned around expectantly at the goblins. They looked at each other. None seemed willing to give theirs up.

"Whoever gives their egg up first will get to eat it," Goblin faces turned towards each other. One stayed on Sarah's face. Slowly they lifted their egg to her, and she smiled at it before taking it.

"Thank you, now just watch" She had already placed the flat pan on the fire atop the stove. The other goblin came up and gave her the pot of water, and she put that one on another flame. Turning back to the pan she cracked the egg and plopped in the middle. The goblins all stared and ohhh'ed as she made a sunny side up egg. Then she put it on a plate that was nearby and handed it to the goblin who'd given her the egg.

"There, now there are many ways to make an egg, this ones called 'sunny side up' be careful it's hot," She warned at the hungry look the goblin had. The others watched with curiosity has the goblin used this hands to take a bit off the side and put it his mouth. The room was silent as the goblin chewed. The cooks and cleaners had stopped to watch what was going on. Once he swallowed everyone was tense as they waited for his reaction.

"Tis good!" He finally said before hurriedly eating the rest. The room exploded with questions and demands for "MY EGG TO BE NEXT", how she did it, what other ways there was to cook it and so on. The rest of the afternoon was spent making over easy eggs, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs and ever other kind of egg. She had to do this a few times each, since the goblins wanted some and the cooks wanted to know how to do it.

By the time she made it up to her room that night she was exhausted but happy. There was so many overjoyed faces today it really made her feel much better about being here. But just as she was getting dressed for bed there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," She called. A female goblin opened the door.

"The Goblin King wishes to see you miss, in the dining room." It said in a gruff but quiet voice. Sarah turned around surprised.

"For what?" She asked, as she started to head out the door. The goblin shrugged.

"Didn't say," Was her only answer before leaving.

'Well that was helpful,' Sarah thought annoyed as she made her way to the dining room. Upon arriving she gave herself a second to catch her breath, and straighten her dress before knocking on the door. She was nervous, 'What have I done?' Sarah had barely seen Jareth in the past few days, just catching glimpses of him. There wasn't anything she'd done already to upset him was there?

"Come in," Taking a deep breath, Sarah opened the door.

She hadn't been in this room before. All it had was a long dark wooden table that could fit at least thirty people, with wooden chairs. Above it hung a huge silver chandelier the candles throwing small rainbows on the walls and table below it from the crystals.

Jareth was seated at the head of the table on the other side of the room from her. He wasn't looking at her, but he motioned her to come closer with his hand. Sarah walked down the side of the table, and as she walked she noticed something in front of him, a plate. Oh, no. On the plate was some eggs. _Scrambled eggs. _

Sarah tried not to panic. There's no reason she couldn't make eggs, that shouldn't be against any rules should it? Trying hard to breath right, she got a chair away from him before saying,

"Yes?" He looked up, and thankfully Sarah couldn't detect any anger or annoyance. He merely looked slightly perplexed.

"When I asked for my dinner, I was given this instead. I was told you were the one who thought of it." Sarah couldn't help but blush.

"Well, um. I didn't mean it to be your dinner or anything, I just noticed some goblins throwing the eggs around and mentioned that eggs could be used for food. And I showed them how to make it different ways. Eggs are usually for breakfast." Right after saying it, Sarah mentally slapped herself. That sounded really great. "But humans can eat it for dinner too, they just usually add more to it."

"Hmm," He sounded slightly disinterested as he gauged the food in front of him. He picked up the fork and slowly, delicately took a piece and put it in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing. He looked up at her.

"Interesting," Was all he said at first and Sarah shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Was it okay?" She finally asked. He seemed to think about it before answering.

"Yes, I suppose it was. Different, I haven't had anything like it before, but yes it tasted fine. I'm surprised such a simple food was looked over. This will at least give my goblins something easy to eat."

"Umm, if you made a chicken coop it would be easier to get the eggs,"

"A...chicken coop?" He asked, eyebrows coming together.

"Yes, it's a human uh, thing. It's made to keep chickens in and gives them nests to lay their eggs in. That way you know where the chickens are, and where the eggs are."

Throughout her speech Sarah could tell Jareth was thinking hard about the information she was telling him.

"Very well. I shall look into this... 'chicken coop'. I suppose," He said as he stood. "I should thank you for showing everyone this." Sarah blushed again.

"It wasn't a big deal..." She said softly looking at the floor. She didn't know why she was so nervous around him. She guessed it might be the power he possessed and the fact that now he could actually harm her. While in the Labyrinth she hadn't really thought about it before. Now, with him standing over her in his castle was a bit nerve racking.

He tilted his head a bit at her shyness but said nothing about it. Instead he said, "So how are you enjoying my castle?" He asked with a cat-like grin. Looking up she tentatively smiled back.

"It's...interesting,"

"Ah, yes. Things in the Labyrinth have a tendency to do that. Now before I go, do you have any questions for me?" This was unusual. Sarah was confused, what had tipped him off to thinking she had any questions? Then it dawned on her.

"The iPod!" She put her hands in her pockets looking for it. Jareth watched her with confused but curious eyes. "Ah ha!" She called pulling the iPod from her pocket.

"Is there anyway you can charge this? I would really like it to play again," She asked handing Jareth the iPod. When she had gotten back to her room the night she took it, she had tried to turn it on but was disappointed to find the battery dead.

Jareth turned it over a few times in his gloved hands.

"What is it?"

"It's a device that plays music," She explained watching him twirl it in his fingers. This sentence stopped him however and he seemed to remember something.

"Ah yes. A music player I remember now," He smiled down at the thing. "It was another Runner's favorite thing. She dropped it within the Labyrinth. When she found out she was very upset." He chuckled at the memory. "But yes, I do recall it playing music. She listened to the thing almost the whole time she was running the Labyrinth," He shook his head at the thought.

"Who did she wish away?" Sarah hadn't thought of the words, but suddenly there they were. But Jareth didn't pause or flinch.

"Her best friend," Sarah's eyes widened with shock. "They wished each other away, together."

"Wait, I don't understand."

Jareth smiled at her, "Two friends knew of The Labyrinth and wanting to go there so bad they wished each other away just so they could come here. They didn't actually think it would work of course, and so both were very surprised at my showing up. But nevertheless they both ran my Labyrinth."

"Did they...did they win?" He gave her a look.

"Yes, and no. But now let's see what I can do about this," He turned back to look at the iPod. Faintly Sarah could see it start to glow, then the screen light up before fading back to black.

"Here," He handed it back. Sarah gloomily took it back. Obviously he couldn't do anything about it. Then she noticed the screen had words on it, looking closer she could see the main menu. The back light was off, but the iPod itself was fully charged.

"Oh! Thank you so much!" She said happily, turning it off. There would be time to listen to it later. Jareth nodded. "So...I'll be going then?" She asked, not knowing if she was needed any further.

"Yes, your free to go,"

"Okay, thank you again." She smiled before starting to walk towards the door. Right before she was going to leave, she remembered something and turned back. Jareth was still standing there, watching her.

"There is one more thing..."

"Yes what is it?"

"It'd be really nice to be able to see my old friends again, Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus."

"Very well, I shall send them to you tomorrow when you are free from work."

Sarah smiled before exiting the room. It was a strange encounter. Jareth was so willing to help her... He must have a reason. She decided fiercely. She would figure that out later, for now she was just excited to see her friends tomorrow.

A noise jolted Sarah from her thoughts, and she found herself returned to the throne room. Sweeping forgotten. She turned around, what was that noise? Then she saw them,

"Ludo! Sir Didymus!" She ran over to them, giving them both a hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"  
"As we are to see you, my lady" Sir Didymus said. "Swarh friend!" Ludo agreed. Sarah was so happy it was amazing to see them again! But...  
"Where's Hoggle?"

Do my chapters keep getting longer? Yes they are. Haha, introductions aren't always my favorite. So expect longer chapters like this from me in the future. : D Now. Where's Hoggle? Hehe, stay tuned!


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